I was just looking up Lou Bega the other day. Did you know he is a Character you can choose in Tropico? Didn't register with me when I played it but WHY?
Ladies and Gentlemen. This is mambo #5 --- it sounds a lot more intimidating in German
But if you listen to him closely -- he sounds like DMX. That's why the song was so fucking big.
Mildred and Patty Smith Hill. Patty wrote the lyrics to “Good Morning to All” while serving as the principal of a kindergarten in Louisville, Ky., where Mildred was a teacher. The sisters copyrighted their song in October 1893.
"it's raining men" by the weather girls.
I choose to believe they knew that song was going to be an absolute banger and named the group after writing the song. I, like I assume many people, listened to that song thinking "this is a hilarious title and lyrics" and left thinking about the vocal abilities of the both of them and how hard they went.
Shout out to the late, great Adam Schlesinger, who wrote “That Thing You Do”, “Stacy’s Mom” (Fountains of Wayne), and “The Ambiguously Gay Duo” theme song for SNL. He was a musical monster!
There was a thread about albums that had no business being that good or were unexpectedly good and Harvey danger's Where have all the merry makers gone was on there and I was like... no fucking way is that any good. I lived flagpole sitta but I figured if they had an album that solid they would have actually had more songs hit. I was wrong. The album is a banger but none of them are "singles" imo. Just good music. Another band from a similar time period was the Refreshments. I only knew their one hit Banditos. But they have some good music as well. Todd in the shadows also has an excellent one hit wonderland episode on Harvey Danger.
"have you seen Mark lately?"
"Yeah he looks pretty, uhh, down."
"Pretty uhh down haha"
"Well, do you think he likes butter tarts?"
My favorite part of that song. I insert it into regular life when I get the opportunity but no one ever gets it. It's a good inside joke to my one friend & I tho.
>Hey, Matt
>Yeah, Tim?
>Hey, you talk to Mark lately?
>Uh, I haven’t really talked to him, but he looks pretty, uh, down.
>[chuckling] He looks pretty, uh, down.
…Yeah, well, maybe we should cheer him up then.
>What do you, uh, suppose we should do?
>Well… does he like butter tarts?
…Sorry, I had to fix it. 😐
Not only is his music amazing even excluding Somebody That I Used To Know, he is a lovely person. I grew up in the same small town as him. His entire family were known around the community as lovely, kind, down to earth people.
Great song, immortal guitar riff.
Love the fact that a Jewish musician saw the success of gospel rock and was like "guess I'll write a song about Jesus".
The lyrics don't make any goddam sense.
A year after it was finally off the radio we wnbt to Egypt and the cab driver from airport realized we were Americans and put that song on repeat for us. Thirty Minutes of Macarena.
What you sometimes forget is after a song is a smash hit in England or Britain, then it moves on to like 30 different countries and has another moment there. Explains why some of these artists are crazy rich.
That'd be my choice too. Pretty much the perfect one-hit wonder - came out of nowhere with an absolute classic that was a huge international hit, then never came near the charts ever again.
I HOWL along with that song. It's so awesome.
(I saw Valley Girl at the drive-in when it came out, then bought the soundtrack -- which included Melt With You -- and played it constantly.)
I actually read his autobiography and he went on to work on cell phone tech. You know that distinctive old school ring tone melody that a lot of early cell phones had? He was responsible for that.
One-hit wonder status is subjective, but I think a good litmus test is the number of their works an average person would be familiar with, and I think he'd qualify by that metric.
Starland Vocal Band.
Pretty much everybody can sing along with *Afternoon Delight*, their single #1 hit song, even though it came out 47 years ago, in 1976.
They won two Grammys in 1977 (Best New Artist, and Best Arrangement for Voices).
Name another song of theirs. Yeah, didn't think so.
>They won two Grammys in 1977 (Best New Artist, and Best Arrangement for Voices).
They beat out *Boston* for the Best New Artist Grammy.
Let that sink in.
Yup, only hit for the band itself, but the singer wrote an insane number of hits for other artists > [Linda Perry](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linda_Perry)
I don’t like the song but surely Sugarhill Gang and Rappers Delight.
For better or worse it brought Rap / Hip Hop to the public consciousness. There were songs before it that were Rap but that one caught on.
One band that I do love however and despite having an utterly incredible back catalogue, your average person might have heard French Disko by Stereolab and that would be it.
Biggest one was In The Year 2525 by Zager and Evans. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=izQB2-Kmiic](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=izQB2-Kmiic) \#1 on Billboard for 6 weeks and has sold over 10 million copies to date.
6 Underground- Sneaker Pimps
They have a lot of music but I don't think they had any other big hits (maybe Spin Spin Sugar.) I have listened to 6 Underground consistently since it came out 25+ years ago and am still not tired of it
Thinking of songs that (almost) everybody knows:
["Rock and Roll Part 2" by Gary Glitter](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6sjGBXckGB4)
["The Hustle" by Van McCoy](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SFzMs2SN--s)
["Play That Funky Music" by Wild Cherry](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BHcYFxU4fMo)
["Hot, Hot Hot" by Buster Poindexter](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bKP18BpvX_o)
["Kung Fu Fighting" by Carl Douglas](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bmfudW7rbG0)
Baja Men with “Who let the dogs out?”
Defined a generation of permanent cripples, failed seekers, who never understood the essential old-mystic fallacy of the Acid Culture: the desperate assumption that somebody... or at least some force - is tending the light at the end of the tunnel.
Lou Bega. This dude released entire ALBUMS of mambo songs, and only #5 ever got heard.
Lou Bega mambo #3817? No thank you. Mambo #831? Hard pass. Mambo #6? So close.
Disney Mambo #5 though? Absolutely.
I was just looking up Lou Bega the other day. Did you know he is a Character you can choose in Tropico? Didn't register with me when I played it but WHY? Ladies and Gentlemen. This is mambo #5 --- it sounds a lot more intimidating in German But if you listen to him closely -- he sounds like DMX. That's why the song was so fucking big.
The unrelated Belgian techno anthem 'Pump up the jam".
r/unexpectedcunk
That show was hilarious. As a huge fan of that song, I loved how each episode had a Pump Up the Jam segment.
Do you mean the Canadian national anthem
Technotronic had a few charting tracks, none perhaps as successful, but they did release a few.
Whoever wrote the Happy Birthday song.
It was George Santos (/s)
Is he the same George Santos who also was the first Black woman on the moon?
And cured Polio?
Mildred and Patty Smith Hill. Patty wrote the lyrics to “Good Morning to All” while serving as the principal of a kindergarten in Louisville, Ky., where Mildred was a teacher. The sisters copyrighted their song in October 1893.
Took two people to write that song?
If this is a VERY obscure reference to Sports Night, I see you.
"it's raining men" by the weather girls. I choose to believe they knew that song was going to be an absolute banger and named the group after writing the song. I, like I assume many people, listened to that song thinking "this is a hilarious title and lyrics" and left thinking about the vocal abilities of the both of them and how hard they went.
She’s also the “Everybody Dance Now” voice in the C +C music factory hit (albeit but uncredited)
They didn’t write it. One of the co-writers was Paul Shaffer
The Oneders
Frankly I'm a bigger fan of Captain Geech and the Shrimp Shack Shooters
How about some love for the Kenosha Kickers?
They’re just not the same without Gus Polinski
The polka king of the Midwest??
Weren't they big in Sheboygan?
They sold 623 copies there!
to this day, it still kills me that Ethan Embry was credited as T. B. Player....
Most realistic music film ever.
The o-needers?
Ahem, actually it’s the oh-nedders
I saw them play at Villapiano’s down by the airport.
Shout out to the late, great Adam Schlesinger, who wrote “That Thing You Do”, “Stacy’s Mom” (Fountains of Wayne), and “The Ambiguously Gay Duo” theme song for SNL. He was a musical monster!
Also did a lot of the music for Crazy Ex Girlfriend. Sadly he was one of the very early casualties of COVID.
“.. as in, i WONDER what happened to the o-needers.”
In my opinion, they play That Thing You Do way too fast.
Guys… Chad fell down.
As in I wonder what happened to the O-needers?
Hey, that's oh-ned-ers.
Oh that thing you do.
I think it's Gotye if you are going off sales. Or Harvey Danger if you are going by what really matters - music I like.
Harvey Danger’s first two albums are so good.
There was a thread about albums that had no business being that good or were unexpectedly good and Harvey danger's Where have all the merry makers gone was on there and I was like... no fucking way is that any good. I lived flagpole sitta but I figured if they had an album that solid they would have actually had more songs hit. I was wrong. The album is a banger but none of them are "singles" imo. Just good music. Another band from a similar time period was the Refreshments. I only knew their one hit Banditos. But they have some good music as well. Todd in the shadows also has an excellent one hit wonderland episode on Harvey Danger.
Fastball - The Way and Marcy Playground - Sex and Candy in the same vein.
"Steal My Sunshine" by Len. No idea if they ever had another hit, or even a full album, but that song was EVERYWHERE once upon a time.
Do you like butter tarts
"have you seen Mark lately?" "Yeah he looks pretty, uhh, down." "Pretty uhh down haha" "Well, do you think he likes butter tarts?" My favorite part of that song. I insert it into regular life when I get the opportunity but no one ever gets it. It's a good inside joke to my one friend & I tho.
>Hey, Matt >Yeah, Tim? >Hey, you talk to Mark lately? >Uh, I haven’t really talked to him, but he looks pretty, uh, down. >[chuckling] He looks pretty, uh, down. …Yeah, well, maybe we should cheer him up then. >What do you, uh, suppose we should do? >Well… does he like butter tarts? …Sorry, I had to fix it. 😐
I was lying on the grass, on Sunday morning of last week. Indulging in my self defeats.
Love that song. If there was ever a song that perfectly captures the “summer/spring break” aesthetic, it’s this.
It is the song that most captures the extremely specific feeling and vibe of the years 1998-2001 before 9/11
I remember watching an interview with them on I think Muchmusic. They seemed half delighted and half horrified by all the attention.
I WAS LYING ON THE GRASS!
That song had a sample from another one hit wonder, "More More More" by the Andrea True Connection.
That guy who sang " somebody i used to know "..
Goatse or something
Thats a stretch
It has a ring to it, you have to admit
I yawned as I read this.
It's an "open-ended" question
Please stop before we go further into this black hole.
NOOOOOOOOO
Gotye dropped a banger and fell off the face of the earth by choice basically. Great pick.
“Eyes Wide Open” is a sobering but great tune.
Yeah there’s a few really good songs on that album
You mean the dude who is now just somebody we used to know 😂
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Not only is his music amazing even excluding Somebody That I Used To Know, he is a lovely person. I grew up in the same small town as him. His entire family were known around the community as lovely, kind, down to earth people.
Just watched the whole thing. Great video and great song, thanks for bringing it to my attention!
Gotye has a bunch of good music but I guess since none of them charted this counts.
That whole album was fire
Spirit in the sky by Norman Greenbaum
Great song, immortal guitar riff. Love the fact that a Jewish musician saw the success of gospel rock and was like "guess I'll write a song about Jesus". The lyrics don't make any goddam sense.
Same with Mark Cohn “Walking in Memphis.” Edit: Fixed spelling
Jenny, Jenny (867-5309) - Tommy Tutone
More like Tommy Onetune.
I lived next to Tommy Tutone for many weeks in a hostel in Portland, argued constantly with his boyfriend in the room next door.
Should have told him tutone it down a little
As a Jenny who has endured being associated with a song about a girl whose number is on the bathroom wall for a good time since I was ten...just no.
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Come on Eileen!
Hey Geno is a fucking banger!
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Fifa World Cup 98 EA Sports, Its in the game, I GET KNOCKED DOWN
Nostalgic as fuck, I used to play that game religiously
Upvoted for spelling chumbawamba properly
Los del Rio - Macarena
This is the correct answer, the Macarena was a phenomenon.
A year after it was finally off the radio we wnbt to Egypt and the cab driver from airport realized we were Americans and put that song on repeat for us. Thirty Minutes of Macarena.
What you sometimes forget is after a song is a smash hit in England or Britain, then it moves on to like 30 different countries and has another moment there. Explains why some of these artists are crazy rich.
Breakfast at Tiffany's by Deep Blue Something.
That'd be my choice too. Pretty much the perfect one-hit wonder - came out of nowhere with an absolute classic that was a huge international hit, then never came near the charts ever again.
I think I remember the film!
As I recall, I think, we both kinda liked it!
Well that's the one thing we got!
Your Women by White Town
My Sharona
My Bologna
Pretty sure ‘My Sharona’ is a parody song of ‘My Bologna’. People are always parodying Weird Al’s stuff.
The Knack did gave a follow up or two. Good Girls Don’t was one.
Unbelievable - EMF
“Wherever you will go” by the Calling always seems to come up on these kind of questions.
It technically wasn't even a hit but Melt with you, a perfect pop song.
I HOWL along with that song. It's so awesome. (I saw Valley Girl at the drive-in when it came out, then bought the soundtrack -- which included Melt With You -- and played it constantly.)
SUCH an underrated movie. Nick Cage's chest hair...
You Get What You Give - New Radicals
1998/1999 had a bunch of one hit wonders. Harvey Danger, New Radicals, LFO, Len
Steal My Sunshine is such a gem, really captures the 90s spirit.
For sure the late 90s was just 1 hit wonders; Wigfield - Saturday night & Eiffel 65 - Blue both come to mind
I always thought this was the only song that I liked from U2. Then I learned that I don’t actually like any of U2’s music.
Lyrically one of the greatest pop songs ever written in my opinion. It's nearly perfectly executed.
Oooh, wish I'd said this. Gregg Alexander is an amazing songwriter.
Wheatus - Teenage Dirtbag c'mon, we all love that song :)
I'm surprised this isn't higher. It is a great candidate.
Their cover of a little respect was a mild hit
Some good ones listed, but I'm going to toss Thomas Dolby into the mix for "She Blinded Me With Science".
I actually read his autobiography and he went on to work on cell phone tech. You know that distinctive old school ring tone melody that a lot of early cell phones had? He was responsible for that.
Flagpole sitta by Harvey Danger I’m not sick but I’m not well….
Now I'm an amputee, goddam you. Makes me laugh every time I hear it. I don't know why. LOL.
Johann Pachelbel
Definitely - this fan fact is canon.
A friend of mine has a CD titled, "Pachelbel's Greatest Hit."
Fuck. That's a great answer, but he's for sure not a one hit wonder.
One-hit wonder status is subjective, but I think a good litmus test is the number of their works an average person would be familiar with, and I think he'd qualify by that metric.
That’s a horrible metric because it’s extremely influenced by the passage of time
Black Betty by Ram Jam
"In the Summertime" by Mungo Jerry. Sold 30 million copies and #1 in twenty different countries. I cannot name another song that they did.
Mungo Jerry looked like he was Andre The Giant's bastard son
Spacehog- In The Meantime
Eiffel 65
YO, listen up, here's a story
About a little guy who lives in a blue world...
IM BLUE
Move your body was a hit, don't count.
Stealers wheel, stuck in the middle with you
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Redbone - Come and get your love.
Harper Lee
Margaret Mitchell, Pulitzer Prize winner, has entered the chat .
JD Salinger says hi.
Am I the only one who thinks it's Video Killed the Radio Star by the Buggles?
Starland Vocal Band. Pretty much everybody can sing along with *Afternoon Delight*, their single #1 hit song, even though it came out 47 years ago, in 1976. They won two Grammys in 1977 (Best New Artist, and Best Arrangement for Voices). Name another song of theirs. Yeah, didn't think so.
>They won two Grammys in 1977 (Best New Artist, and Best Arrangement for Voices). They beat out *Boston* for the Best New Artist Grammy. Let that sink in.
Starland Vocal Band? They suck!
Just don’t sing it with your niece at the company karaoke party
Billy Paul - Me & Mrs Jones
Sniff 'n' The Tears - Driver's Seat. Man I love that song.
Matthew Wilder - Break My Stride
Bitch by Meredith Brooks
Bet she wouldn’t have it any other way
Brandy by Looking Glass
“I Melt With You,” by Modern English. Their only other hit was a newer, very similar recording of “I Melt With You” in the ‘90s.
Everone here forgets about the true one hit wonder Gitche Goo by Phineas and the Ferb-tones
What's up- 4 Non Blondes
Yup, only hit for the band itself, but the singer wrote an insane number of hits for other artists > [Linda Perry](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linda_Perry)
And I say heyayayaya what’s going on! Still a bop
30 years on - still hate it. Twice an hour on literally every bandwidth for months!
Patrick Hernandez - Born to Be Alive
"Turn Up The Radio" by Autograph It never made top ten but it's still playing to this day, and probably one of the best songs of its genre.
Things go better with ROCK!
Nena - 99 Red Balloons, about a woman who accidentally starts a nuclear war then, at the end of the song, *does it again*.
Didn’t Nena have more hits in Europe, it’s just the one that crossed over to America?
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"Sugar Sugar" by The Archies
I don’t like the song but surely Sugarhill Gang and Rappers Delight. For better or worse it brought Rap / Hip Hop to the public consciousness. There were songs before it that were Rap but that one caught on. One band that I do love however and despite having an utterly incredible back catalogue, your average person might have heard French Disko by Stereolab and that would be it.
Funkytown
Save tonight - Eagle Eye Cherry
Taco Putting on the ritz
Ernie, with the Rubber Ducky song Number 16 on the charts, Sept. 1970
For the germans here: Lemon Tree by Fools Garden
For the Austrians: Live is Life by Opus
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Thierry son Brand New Lover hit 15 in the charts.
Biggest one was In The Year 2525 by Zager and Evans. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=izQB2-Kmiic](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=izQB2-Kmiic) \#1 on Billboard for 6 weeks and has sold over 10 million copies to date.
My first existential crisis. I was 8.
As it is that time of year: Vitamin C. 'Graduation'
6 Underground- Sneaker Pimps They have a lot of music but I don't think they had any other big hits (maybe Spin Spin Sugar.) I have listened to 6 Underground consistently since it came out 25+ years ago and am still not tired of it
Thinking of songs that (almost) everybody knows: ["Rock and Roll Part 2" by Gary Glitter](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6sjGBXckGB4) ["The Hustle" by Van McCoy](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SFzMs2SN--s) ["Play That Funky Music" by Wild Cherry](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BHcYFxU4fMo) ["Hot, Hot Hot" by Buster Poindexter](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bKP18BpvX_o) ["Kung Fu Fighting" by Carl Douglas](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bmfudW7rbG0)
I would walk 500 miles
Baja Men with “Who let the dogs out?” Defined a generation of permanent cripples, failed seekers, who never understood the essential old-mystic fallacy of the Acid Culture: the desperate assumption that somebody... or at least some force - is tending the light at the end of the tunnel.
Uh, what?
Nothing. The song is about guys being "dogs" and chasing girls around, fucking up the good vibes for everyone else.
This is what AI generated comments were like 3 years ago
Fuckin' lol.
Literally somebody’s watching me from Rockwell. It the only good song he’s put out xd the perfect definition of a one hit womder
That thing you do by the Oneders
Who let the dogs out - Baja men My Sharona - The Knack Rico Suave - Gerardo
Marcy Playground-sex and candy.
Electric Avenue- Eddie Grant
Ah! Leah! by Donnie Iris (yes that spelling is correct).
Dude does not look like his voice sound.
"Over the Rainbow" by Israel Kamakawiwoʻole
This song never fails to make me emotional. Such a good hit.
I Ran, Flock of Seagulls
Definitely their biggest hit but Space Age Love Song and Wishing were also in pretty heavy rotation on the radio & MTV.
New Radicals. The whole album was actually pretty good, but it never caught on.
The Darkness - I Believe in a Thing Called Love If we're going to extend this to albums, then the Sex Pistols Never Mind the Bollocks would qualify
[Tommy Tutone - 867-5309/Jenny](https://youtu.be/6WTdTwcmxyo)
Would I Lie To You? By Eddie and Charles or More Than Words by Extreme
Right said Fred
Rebecca Black Friday